Twenty Five Questions For Volleyball Teachers And Coaches…
By John Kessel, USA Volleyball Director of Education, Disabled, Grassroots and Beach Volleyball

While stranded in New Jersey for a couple of days in the Blizzard of 1996, after doing a USA CAP course…I came up with this
list of questions that should guide everyone towards being a better coach…
Coach/Teacher, please answer the following questions:

1. Coach, when do we get to _________________? Fill in the blank
2. How many balls does a coach spike in the match for the team?
3. After taking a varying amount of time to set up the net, how long from when your practice starts until players start to
use/send balls over the net?
4. What does pair pepper really teach?
5. With a 12 person team in a 2 hour practice, how much time can you average giving attention to each player, and what
happens when you are paying attention to others?
6. How many times do you want to have your servers direct the serve right to the passer, and not an unoccupied space?

7. How many serves will a receiver see come in from in front of the net?
8. What habit is a player learning by playing a ball repetitively against the wall when in the gym?
9. How many serves will the coach be able to serve in the match?
10. How many sets does the hitter see tossed up for them?
11. How many matches are played without scoring?
12. How many balls do the opponents hit first with a sound by slapping the ball before doing a skill?
13. How many attackers hit from a chair or platform over the net?
14. What skill do the athletes practice when the net is up, and you are not “around.”
15. Ever see a team warm up, maybe even including a neat movement pattern, and thought, “Gee that team is great,” and then
when you play them, you crush them 15-2, 15-2?

16. How many balls will a defender have to read and react to that are thrown by the opponent from below the waist and in front
of the net?
17. How many passes will the setter see thrown two handed to them by a teammate in a match?
18. How many times will the referee let your attackers run under the net after they spike?
19. How many times in a match do you want your servers to serve, then to stand there talking or walk away from the court?
20. What was the ratio of beach coaches to players playing doubles (grass and beach) before it became an Olympic sport?

21. Why don't we place the linespersons net to the team on the bench? This also appears to be the best place to determine net
violations and touch calls…

22. How many times have you gotten a referee to change a call by asking…"Was his entire foot over the line?…Did the ball hit
the floor before he hit the net?…That was a double/carry/throw! etc. "

23. How many players feel really good about themselves after making a game point error, only to have "teammates" turn away
from them and walk off the court?
24. What does exclaiming, "Hey Nice try!" really suggest?
25. If your kids could choose one drill/game to play – other than scrimmaging – what would that be?
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copyright 2002 by USA Volleyball www.usavolleyball.org ver 4.7.02
 

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